Will Butler | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | William Pierce Butler |
Born | Truckee, California, U.S. | October 6, 1982
Origin | The Woodlands, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | Indie rock |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Labels | Merge Records |
William Pierce Butler (born October 6, 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He is best known as a former member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire, with whom he recorded six studio albums. Butler was a member of the band for eighteen years, between 2003 and 2021, and played synthesizer, bass, guitar and percussion. He is known for his spontaneity, energy and antics during live performances and is the younger brother of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler. In 2010, he won a Grammy Award [1] for Album of the Year as part of Arcade Fire.
In 2014, Butler was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the original score of the 2013 film Her . In 2024, Butler was nominated for two Tony Awards for his orchestrations & score of the play Stereophonic , which itself was nominated for and won Best Play. [2] Butler has released three solo studio albums – Policy (2015), Generations (2020), and Will Butler + Sister Squares (2023) – on Merge Records.
Born in Truckee, California, United States, [3] and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, Will is the son of Liza Rey, a classical musician, and Edwin Farnham Butler II, a geologist. [4] His maternal grandfather was guitarist Alvino Rey. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2001, where he lived in Abbot Hall, and subsequently attended Northwestern University, majoring in Poetry and Slavic studies. [5] During this time, he worked as a DJ for the WNUR Rock Show, where he also hired Nathan Amundson of Rivulets to be a substitute DJ at WNUR-FM. He also served as the poetry editor of Northwestern's literary magazine, Helicon. An excerpt of a poem from his senior thesis is quoted in Brian Bouldrey's book, "Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica." While at Northwestern, Butler lived in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the mid-2000s to join his brother Win Butler and band Arcade Fire.
In January 2008 Butler married dancer Jenny Shore. [6]
In January 2014, Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of Her .
Butler was a student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government where he pursued a Mid-Career Master in Public Administration. [7] [8]
In March 2022, Butler announced he had left Arcade Fire at the end of the previous year, stating "there was no acute reason beyond that I've changed—and the band has changed—over the last almost 20 years. Time for new things." [9] The band's album We , released on May 6, 2022, was Butler's last performance with Arcade Fire on a studio album. [10]
Butler is now part of Will Butler + Sister Squares. [11]
On March 3, 2015, Butler's debut solo album Policy was released under Merge Records, accompanied by an international tour alongside Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara. According to Butler, Policy is intended to reflect his omnivorous musical taste. [12]
Butler wrote five songs for The Guardian , based on news headlines, with each song created and shared a day apart. They were mixed properly and released on Policy Deluxe in May 2015.
Butler's song "Sun Comes Up" from the 2016 solo album Friday Night caught the ear of DJ B-Roc of The Knocks, and subsequently the Knocks-produced remix of the song was released alongside a video directed by Butler, filmed in part on the New York City subway system. [13]
Butler wrote original songs for David Adjmi's play Stereophonic , which was originally scheduled to premier in 2021, but due to the coronavirus was pushed back until October 2023. [14] Following the play's Broadway debut in 2024, Butler received two Tony nominations: one for Best Original Score and another for Best Orchestrations. [15]
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in 1989 by musician Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psychedelic folk. Mangum wrote surreal and opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love, spirituality, nostalgia, sex, and loneliness. He and the other band members played a variety of instruments, including non-traditional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes.
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.
Edwin Farnham Butler III is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire with Josh Deu and his wife Régine Chassagne.
Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format.
Richard Reed Parry is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion.
Arcade Fire is an extended play (EP) by the indie rock band Arcade Fire. The EP was recorded in Maine, United States, during the summer of 2002. Arcade Fire was remastered and repackaged for its 2005 re-release by Merge Records for fans after they had "grown obsessed" with the band's debut album, Funeral. It was initially released in 2003 by the band at their shows and website, and then re-released in 2005 by Merge. It received positive reviews from music critics, although some of them noted that it was inferior to their debut album Funeral. Lyrical themes of Arcade Fire consist of parents, suburbia, new love, dread, and drama. The EP's third track, "No Cars Go", was re-recorded for Arcade Fire's second full-length album, Neon Bible. No Cars Go has been played at the majority of live shows since the EP release. Arcade Fire have also played other songs from the EP, live on every tour since, however, it has become less frequent. On their recent tours, they notably played "Headlights Look Like Diamonds" and "Vampire/Forest Fire".
Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright, known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also known for their contributions to Arcade Fire, having toured with the band and been credited as an arranger and instrumentalist on each of their studio albums. In January 2014, Pallett and Arcade Fire member William Butler were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of the film Her (2013).
James Jeremiah Murphy is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem, which first gained attention with its single "Losing My Edge" in 2002 before releasing its eponymous debut album in February 2005 to critical acclaim and top 20 success in the UK. LCD Soundsystem's second and third studio albums, Sound of Silver (2007) and This Is Happening (2010) respectively, were met with universal acclaim from several music review outlets. Both albums have also reached the top 50 in the Billboard 200.
"Rebellion (Lies)" is a song by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was the fourth single released from the band's debut album, Funeral. The single was released in both CD and DVD formats with the song "Brazil" as the B-side. The single peaked at number 19 on the UK singles chart, the band's best performance on this chart to date. On the album Funeral, "Rebellion (Lies)" immediately follows the song "Haiti", the ending of which has the same bass beat and leads right into the beginning of "Rebellion (Lies)". The song has enduringly been the band's closing song at appearances at music festivals and at the end of most of their shows. In October 2011, British pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor released a cover in support of Songs to Save a Life, a benefit project in aid of Samaritans.
Neon Bible is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's website, the majority of the album was recorded at a church the band bought and renovated in Farnham, Quebec. The album is the first to feature drummer Jeremy Gara, and the first to include violinist Sarah Neufeld among the band's core line-up.
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" is a song by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire, and the first track on their debut album Funeral. It is the first of the four-part "Neighborhood" series found on Funeral. It was the band's first single, released several months before the album as a 7" vinyl record on June 20, 2004, to a pressing of 1500 copies. The B-side to the album is a recording of the song "My Buddy" by swing musician Alvino Rey. Rey is the maternal grandfather of Arcade Fire members Win and William Butler.
"Keep the Car Running" is a song by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It is the second single released from the band's second album, Neon Bible in the UK. This song was #22 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 61 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May". The album debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200 chart, and the Canadian Albums Chart. It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, and the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album. Two weeks after winning Grammy's Album of the Year, the album jumped from No. 52 to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, the album's highest ranking since August 2010.
"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" (also known simply as "Sprawl II") is a song by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was released as the sixth and final single from their third studio album, The Suburbs, on April 21, 2012. Two music videos were released for the song, one "traditional" and one interactive, both of which were released on December 13, 2011.
Reflektor is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on October 28, 2013, through Sonovox Records internationally and Merge Records in the United States. A double album, it was recorded between 2011 and 2013 at studios in Montreal, Jamaica, and Louisiana. It was co-produced by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, regular Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs, and the band themselves.
"Reflektor" is a song by the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was released on September 9, 2013, as the first single from and the title track to the band's fourth studio album. Produced by James Murphy, Markus Dravs and the band itself, the song features a guest vocal appearance by David Bowie and was released on a limited edition 12" vinyl credited to the fictional band The Reflektors. Two music videos were made for the song, one regular and one interactive, both being released on the day of the song's release. "Reflektor" was met with positive reviews, with critics often complimenting its musical approach. It also came second in NME's list of best singles of 2013. The song had a positive commercial performance, charting in several countries.
Policy is the debut solo album by Will Butler, best known for his work in Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. The album was released on March 10, 2015 by Merge Records.
Friday Night is a solo live album by American musician Will Butler, who is also a member of Arcade Fire. It contains live versions of many songs from his debut album Policy as well as five new songs and two of the songs that he recorded for The Guardian in a one-week song-a-day project. The album was released on June 17, 2016 by Merge Records.
Her (Original Score) is the film score composed by Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett for the 2013 film Her, directed by Spike Jonze and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson. The score was not officially released to the public until March 2021.
We is the sixth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released through Columbia Records on May 6, 2022. Produced by Nigel Godrich and band members Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, it was recorded in studios in New Orleans; in El Paso, Texas; and on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The album takes its name from the Russian dystopian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. It was the final album by Arcade Fire to feature multi-instrumentalist Will Butler, who departed the band in 2022.